How to count words

Every editor has a word count and every one hides it somewhere different. Here is where, plus what to do when the numbers disagree.

Where the word count lives in each editor

Every editor has one and every editor puts it somewhere different. Here is each of the common ones, and what it counts by default.

Microsoft Word

The count sits in the status bar at the bottom left of the window and updates as you type. Clicking it opens a panel with characters, paragraphs and lines.

To count only part of a document, select the text first: the status bar then shows the selection against the total. Word's dialog includes a checkbox for whether textboxes, footnotes and endnotes are included, and this is the single most common reason Word's number differs from a counter's.

Google Docs

Tools → Word count, or Ctrl+Shift+C (Cmd+Shift+C on a Mac). Tick “Display word count while typing” to keep it in the corner permanently.

Selecting text before opening the dialog counts only the selection. Google Docs excludes headers, footers and footnotes by default, which usually makes it read lower than Word for the same document.

Apple Pages

View → Show Word Count, which puts a counter at the bottom of the window. Clicking it cycles through characters, paragraphs and pages.

Scrivener

The footer of each document shows its own count, and Project → Project Targets sets goals for the whole manuscript or a session. Scrivener excludes annotations and comments by default.

A web page or PDF

Select the text, copy it, and paste it into the counter. For a PDF, be aware that copying often introduces line breaks at the end of every visual line. Check the paragraph count afterwards, since a wildly high figure means the breaks came through.

By hand

Count the words in three full lines and take the average, count the lines on a full page, multiply, then multiply by the number of pages and adjust for short lines at paragraph ends. Accurate to within about five per cent, which is enough to know whether you are near a limit.

Why two tools give different numbers

The differences are almost never bugs. They are disagreements about what to include.

Cause	Effect	Fix
Footnotes and endnotes	Word may include them; most tools do not	Set Word's checkbox to match your brief
Headers and footers	Included by some editors	Exclude unless assessed
Hyphenated words	Some tools split them into two	Word and this site count them as one
Numbers and dates	A few counters skip pure numerals	We count them
Text boxes and captions	Word can include them	Check Word's dialog
Tracked changes	Deleted text may still be counted	Accept or reject all changes first

If a specific number is being enforced, count the version you will actually submit: the exported PDF, or the text pasted into the form, not the working draft.

Common questions

What is the keyboard shortcut for word count?

Ctrl+Shift+G in Microsoft Word on Windows, and Ctrl+Shift+C in Google Docs. On a Mac, Cmd+Shift+C in Docs and Option+Cmd+C in Word.

How do I count words in a selection only?

Select the text first, then open the word count. Both Word and Google Docs report the selection alongside the document total.

Does Word count footnotes?

Only if the checkbox in the word count dialog is ticked. It is off by default in recent versions, which is why Word sometimes reports a lower number than expected on a heavily footnoted document.